Thursday, April 7 2005 12:48 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Srinagar: A powerful blast rocked Pattan, about 27 km from Srinagar, on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus route minutes after the bus carrying the Muzaffarabad-bound passengers passed the town in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir today (Apr 7, 2005), official sources said.

The blast, caused by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), took place inside a closed shop at Pattan Bazar, along the road around 12:25 hrs (IST), barely 10 minutes after the bus had left the North Kashmir town, the sources said, adding no one was hurt in the explosion.

Several firing shots were also heard after the blast, they said, adding it was believed that the firing was resorted to by security personnel dotting the highway to foil plans by militants to target the vehicle.

Meanwhile, four outfits which had threatened the passengers against the travel on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus claimed that its militants targeted the vehicle at Singhpora Pattan.

A caller introducing himself as Samir Abdullah, spokesman of the four outfits - Al-Nasireen, Al-Arifeen, Save Kashmir Movement and Farzandan-e-Millat - telephoned news organisations saying their members hurled a grenade and followed it by firing on the bus.

A police spokesman said the bus has left Baramulla for Uri enroute to Kaman Bridge where the passengers would get down and cross the Line of Control (LoC) on foot on their way to Muzaffarabad.

The bus reached Baramulla safely and left for Uri around 12:30 hrs (IST), the sources said.